Stuff My Wife Says VI

Kate: You look terrible, have you taken anything?

Me: For what?

Kate: I don't know.

This is one of those conversations that says a lot about a relationship without actually saying a thing about it.

Think about it, I was obviously sick with something, but my wife didn't know what.
She's concerned for me because she knows I have a habit of not slowing down when I start to feel bad. You might call it the caveman approach to illness, stubborn with no real concern for my well-being until I am not able to go on any more. I don't know how common this is, after all, you always hear about the "man-cold" and how pitiful we are when we get sick. The symptoms are well documented, mostly by women. But here lies, I think, the reason we get so pitiful: we push until we can't push any more.

Over the last ten years, we have built a routine in our family, everyone has their responsibilities. My wife works hard to keep our family running, and my kids work hard to keep my wife and I running, so I owe it to them to keep running until I can't run any more.

Everyone deserves a day off every now and then. Whether it's mom running the car-pool, or dad picking up groceries, or a tandem bedtime routine, kids WILL take their toll on parents. So, if succumbing to a "man-cold" is what it takes to force a day off, then pass me the tissues, four blankets, and the remote, just as soon as I make dinner, run some laundry, shovel the driveway, change the baby, fix that toy...

Maybe I'll get sick tomorrow instead.